Chile Forum

by **k4kazz** on Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:01 am

Hello everyone. I am coming to Chile in July to do an English course and whilst there will marry my Chilean fiance. Can anyone tell me which documents I will have to produce for the marriage. I have my birth certificate, previous marriage certificate and divorce papers. Do any of these have to be translated into Spanish? Do any of them have to have a postille? How many copies of each one do I need? Are photocopies acceptable if supported by the original document? I have searched for information on the Internet to no avail

I spoke to the British Consulate in Santiago but they did not appear to have much information for the questions that I was asking.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in anticipation.

by **RWS** on Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:57 am

I think that a careful search of the forum will answer all your questions. If not, a consultation with either a Chilean attorney specialist in family law or the counsellor to the Chilean ambassador in London should be able to guide you.

by **admin** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:53 am

At least when I got married, all I needed was a passport and a potential wife.

Then also my wife was my attorney, and I am just a dumb gringo. There might have been whole lot more to it, that I will never know. 8-O

Seriously however you might want to talk to an attorney. You want to make sure you get the right type of marriage. There are several kinds in Chile, and the wrong one can turn your life in to a paperwork hell doing anything official. The most common, such as you would think of in most other countries would be the complete separation of assets. There is another one that the husband is in complete control of the marriage assets, and another one where the wife has to sign off on everything. Again, talk to an attorney to get all the gory details.

by **admin** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:58 am

funny side story. I went in to a notary with my wife to sign some contracts a couple of months ago. The notary started in on all the show about do I understand sufficient Spanish to know what I am signing, and do I have a lawyer, so on and so on. I explained my wife is my attorney. He just looked at me and said sign with that kind of, 'boy if you are getting ripped off, there really is not much I can do for you gringo'.

by **k4kazz** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:16 am

Oooeerrrrrr...lol. many thanks for your replies.

by **Rook** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:26 am

I am assuming you are British based on your post and not sure of British traditions but one difference between the States and Chile is that the Chileans typically have two weddings, the civil service and then the religious service. If your fiancée is with you now, you may consider getting the civil ceremony done where you are, take the marriage certificate to the nearest Chilean embassy and get it inscribed into the Chilean registry. Then when you come to Chile you can have the religious ceremony and have a good party to celebrate.

by **k4kazz** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:05 am

Hi, yes I am British but I live in Spain, and for one reason and another it is not possible for us to marry before I arrive in Chile. Do we HAVE to have a religious ceromony or can we opt out? :roll:

Thank you for your post anyway

by **RWS** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:26 am

This isn't legal advice (again, spring for the few pounds and consult a Chilean lawyer), but as no one else has responded, I'll tell you that I think that the religious ceremony is dispensable, the civil is not, but the two are not susceptible of combination: Spanish lands are different from England and her daughters, where the civil ceremony may be melded into the religious.

by **k4kazz** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:38 am

Hmmmmm. it matters not really, I would just prefer to dispense with the religious thing thats all. I have just written to the man at the Embassy asking for the guidelines....crikey this is turning into a bit of a trauma!!!!!!
The only problems that I have about the documents are...if I need to get postilles for them or official copies then I have to do it whilst I am still here in Spain and have easy access to the UK.It's not that I require any special docs, visas, etc..I just don't want to be running around at the last minute like a headless chuck!
Ah well....back to the drawing board.....

by **eeuunikkeiexpat** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:16 pm

RWS is correct regarding the religious ceremony being dispensable n Chile. In Chile's legalistic system, it is the standing room only civil ceremony that ultimately counts (legally). Wether you have a religious ceremony and/or just an atheistic party afterwards does not legally matter. Family relations, expectations and harmony may be a different matter though.

by **admin** on Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:17 pm

My mother in Law is the translator for Dalhi Lama when he is in Chile (yea, allchile.net is now no longer viewable from China). so, my wife and I had a Buddhist ceremony by a Tibetan lama , and it was followed by a civil ceremony by a judge before the wedding reception. Both the Lama and the Judge stayed for the party.

by **jgb78uk** on Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:10 pm

I'm British and recently got married to a Chilean.
The religious ceremony is purely optional and the civil ceremony is the one that counts.

All I needed was my passport that showed my details and to be in the country legally - whether it be as a tourist, worker , etc.

If you plan on legalising the marriage so it is legally-recognised in the UK, then you have to go through a process involving the extranjeria and then the UK embassy... which all costs around 150,000 pesos.

good luck,
Jamie

by **k4kazz** on Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:47 am

Jamie, Thanks for you reply,,,,,,,so I just need my passport, crikey how easy is that! One more thing that I just thought about, when I enter on a tourist visa am I obliged to have a return flight ticket or do I declare that I am to be married etc. We will be heading for Mexico within a couple of months after the wedding so will no br returning to Spain.
Thanks

by **jgb78uk** on Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:41 pm

Well, I came here last September with a one way ticket and encountered no problems when entering.
The only problem I had was leaving Heathrow in London when the girl on the check in desk wanted to know why i only had a one way ticket. I just said I was going to travel for a few months and eventually buy a one way ticket back. She asked her boss and he had no problems with that.

Good luck on your marriage.

Jamie

by **eeuunikkeiexpat** on Sun Apr 20, 2008 3:06 pm

As stated many times previously, it is the airline at check-in that may be the problem not/never Chile Immigrations.

Chile Forum

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Chile Forum

Need Help In Chile? Spencer Global Consulting Chile, South America Legal, Investment, Real Estate, Relocation, Construction, and all your Problems in Chile, South America Call Us: 56-45-985207 (56)-45-720-995

Need Help In Chile?

Spencer Global Consulting Chile, South America
Legal, Investment, Real Estate,
Relocation, Construction,
and all your Problems in Chile, South America
Call Us:
56-45-985207
(56)-45-720-995